City begins 2018 budget review, departments asked to cut 5%The Russellville City Council called a special meeting and began analyzing the 2018 budget last week at City Hall. Alderman Mark Tripp said the meeting gave aldermen the opportunity to ask questions, discuss the budget and then review any and all expenses and revenues ahead of the normal budget time when the council might otherwise feel pressured to get the budget passed. No votes were taken regarding the budget at the meeting which was a chan...

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BY SEAN INGRAMsean@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

City, Alliance suggest using funds to buy buildings for potential industryThe Russellville City Council approved a recommendation by the Arkansas Valley Alliance for Economic Development (AVAED) that would allow a new business to build a 20,000-square-foot building for a company. Paul Harvel, AVAED executive director, said the Board of Directors approved two items and asked the council to consider them for approval. The first was an agreement for RCW Roller, a company that will manufacture conveyor belt ropes in a 2...

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BY SEAN INGRAMsean@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Pottsville appoints new PNZ liaisonPOTTSVILLE — The Pottsville City Council met Monday and approved a resolution to collect taxes from internet sales and appointed a liaison for the Planning and Zoning Committee. The city council approved Resolution 2017-C regarding the city’s acknowledgement that any taxes from internet sales within the city will come back to the city. Mayor Jerry Williams said he was unsure how much of an impact it will have on the city. Other action taken in...

Council repeals odor ordinancesRemember the odor ordinance discussed and approved by the Russellville City Council in 2015? Earlier this year, aldermen voted on a revised ordinance that repealed Ordinance 2206 from a couple of years ago. During its July meeting, the council voted on an ordinance that repealed both Ordinance 2206 and Ordinance 2275. Aldermen also approved an emergency clause that made the repeal effective immediately. City Attorney Trey Smith told the counci...

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BY SEAN INGRAMsean@couriernews.comThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Convention center plans completely finishedThe Russellville City Council approved another extension for developer David Hunt to start construction of The Landing convention center and hotel during its July meeting. The council approved an ordinance that would amend the original construction contract with Hunt, which was originally signed in 2015. Hunt entered the City Hall council chambers with a large bundle of designs. He told aldermen the plans were finally 100 percent complete. "Si...

Pottsville's trade agreement for pump station cancelledPOTTSVILLE — Last May, the city of Pottsville had an agreement with James Blaylock to swap land to install a pump station. Recently, Blaylock decided not to make the trade, according to Mayor Jerry Williams. The trade entailed a city owned 50’ x 50’ piece of property that houses a building with a small pump station where the old tank is for a 30’ x 35’ piece of land owned by Blaylock closer to the road. Williams explained the city needs the la...

By a hair, Senate votes to debate GOP health care billWASHINGTON — With Vice President Mike Pence breaking a 50-50 tie, the Senate voted by a hair Tuesday to start debating Republican legislation to tear down much of the Obama health care law. The vote gives President Donald Trump and GOP leaders a crucial initial victory but launches a weeklong debate promising an uncertain final outcome. The 51-50 vote kept alive hopes of delivering on promises that countless Republican candidates have campaign...

McCain's return cheers fellow Republican senatorsWASHINGTON — Applause and whoops greeted Sen. John McCain, who is battling brain cancer, as he returned to the Capitol on Tuesday to vote for moving ahead on legislation to dismantle Obamacare The 80-year-old McCain had a visible scar above his left eye after doctors removed a blood clot earlier this month. Days after the surgery, the senator disclosed that he had a brain tumor and had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. "Stop li...

Mayor wants to hear from publicDue to the overwhelming response of a previous article in The Courier about the reallocation of the city's one-cent sales tax, Mayor Randy Horton said he wanted to host some dedicated meetings with residents before the Russellville City Council takes further action. "Before we do anything drastic, we plan on hosting some dedicated meetings to inform the public," he said. "We want to hear from the people what they want us to do before we move f...

Johnson Quorum Court OKs fund appropriationsCLARKSVILLE — The Johnson County Quorum Court met earlier this month and heard an update to a building that will house the assessor’s new office and appropriated funds. Johnson County Judge Herman Houston said they are hoping the remodeling project to a building previously purchased to house the new assessor’s office will be completed by late fall. “The carpentry work is finished,” Houston said. “Now the phone system and computer system is bei...

No Russia collusion, Trump son-in-law Kushner tells CongressWASHINGTON — Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner denied Monday that he colluded with Russians in the course of President Donald Trump's White House bid and declared he has "nothing to hide." Behind closed doors, Kushner spoke to staff members of the Senate intelligence committee for nearly three hours at the Capitol, then made a brief public statement back at the White House. "Let me be very clear," he said. "I did not collude with Russia...

Burr-Hamilton? Angry lawmaker singles out 'female senators'WASHINGTON— Passions are running high on Capitol Hill — but pistols at 10 paces over health care? GOP Rep. Blake Farenthold of Texas is angry with some fellow Republicans in the Senate who are balking at parts of legislation to overturn "Obamacare." After GOP promises to repeal the law, that "is just repugnant to me," he says. Who's to blame? "Some of the people that are opposed to this, there are some female senators from the Northeast," Fare...

Promising 'A Better Deal,' Democrats try to rebrand partyBERRYVILLE, Va. — Promising "A Better Deal" for American workers, Democratic Party leaders rolled out a new agenda with a populist pitch on Monday as they sought to bounce back from their losses in November and look ahead to the 2018 midterms. They left the Beltway for small-town Berryville, Virginia, in an attempt to appeal to the working-class voters that Donald Trump appealed to last November and Democrats hope to win back. "Too many Americ...

Council votes 'no' on PUD ordinanceThe Russellville City Council voted 5-3 Thursday against an ordinance that would have rezoned land from residential to planned unit development on Marina Road and Jennifer Lane. It was the third time the property, commonly known as Hudson Harbor, had gone before the council for rezoning. It was voted down last year and the year before, a resident said when he addressed the council. "I know you're bored with me as much as I am bored to be here,...

ANO Unit 2 returns to serviceArkansas Nuclear One's Unit 2 was reconnected to the electrical grid recently after a refueling outage that positioned the plant for safe, reliable operations and injected hundreds of contract workers into the local economy. Operators successfully marked the end of the unit's 25th refueling and maintenance outage. An ANO spokesperson said Unit 2 shuts down every 18 months to refuel the reactor and perform maintenance and modification work that...

A&P plans to open downtown tourism officeThe Russellville Advertising & Promotion Commission voted during its regular meeting Thursday to move out of the Chamber of Commerce and into a building on South Commerce Avenue. Commissioners considered two options, the office space they looked at last month on South Commerce which is across the street from Arvest Bank and Russellville City Hall. They also considered property next to the Depot Park. The commission voted to lease the South Com...

Aldermen talk committee, sidewalks, speedingA day before the ribbon cutting for the $3 million O Street renovation project was conducted, the Russellville City Council talked about a new committee that would include sidewalks and speeding concerns during their regular meeting Thursday at City Hall. After Alderman Mark Tripp asked Mayor Randy Horton what the Infrastructure and Transportation Committee would entail and what would its members would be tasked to do, the mayor said he liked ...

Sanders steps into role as new face of White HouseWASHINGTON — New White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was schooled in hardscrabble politics — and down-home rhetoric — from a young age by her father, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Her way with a zinger — and her unshakable loyalty to an often unpredictable boss — are big reasons why she became a rising star in President Donald Trump's orbit. She'll take over for Sean Spicer, who abruptly announced Friday that he's resignin...

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By JONATHAN LEMIRE and CATHERINE LUCEY, Associated PressAssociated Press

Spicer abruptly resigns as Trump press secretaryWASHINGTON — White House press secretary Sean Spicer abruptly resigned his position Friday, ending a rocky six-month tenure that made his news briefings defending President Donald Trump must-see TV. He said Trump's White House "could benefit from a clean slate." Spicer quit in protest over the hiring of a new White House communications director, New York financier Anthony Scaramucci, objecting to what Spicer considered his lack of qualificatio...

Board discusses mowing problemsThe Oakland Cemetery Commission heard from Director Stephanie Warwick during its monthly meeting Tuesday that the cemetery was "back in beautiful form" after mowing was completed. However, Warwick reported she had received calls concerning the movement of headstones and markers by lawnmowers. One headstone was moved during a recent mowing, and there was a possibility it could have been knocked over and broken. "We cannot have them damaging hea...